Whatever your application, when purchasing an XRF analyzer, it all comes down to application. Elemental composition (both the range of elements in your samples and their variability), sample size and format, throughput and speed requirements, sensitivity, and budget – all of these factors must be taken into account.
XRF analyzers come in handheld, benchtop, and in two basic forms, which differ in their detection method: wavelength-dispersive and energy-dispersive. Wavelength-dispersive (WD) XRF uses a crystal filter to allow only specific X-ray wavelengths to hit the detector; by rotating the crystal, the entire spectrum of possible signatures can be scanned, an approach reminiscent of the operation of a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Energy-dispersive (ED) XRF devices, in contrast, use an electrified semiconductor (usually a silicon diode) to count the X-rays en masse, using the resulting semiconductor current to approximate the energy of the incident beams.
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